Lana Del Rey denies claims that she “grew up rich”

23 October, 2023

Lana Del Rey performs on stage in 2023

Lana Del Rey has taken to social media to deny claims that she grew up in a wealthy family.

The singer-songwriter refuted rumours that she grew up in wealth in a new-deleted Instagram video last Wednesday (October 18), stating that she grew up in one of “the most rural places in America” and her family “had absolutely no money”.

In the clip – which has resurfaced online following being taken down by the musician – Del Rey spoke directly to the camera and explained what her upbringing was like, including being left out by other kids at school because of her lack of wealth.

“I want to make this video really short and sweet, just because the conversation keeps coming up about me coming from money and my family having money…,” she began the five-minute-long update.

In the post, she recalled that her hometown of Lake Placid, New York was “not a wealthy town”, and tackled misconceptions about her going to a private boarding school by saying that she was only able to attend due to “financial aid” – offered as her uncle worked in the administrative building.

She also claimed that she had a tough time in the school because other students knew that she wasn’t wealthy, and subsequently gave her the nickname “White trash from Lake Placid.”

Elsewhere in the update, she recalled her parents arguing about money daily and her father working as a woodworker to make ends meet. She also added his financial success only came later in life, after he joined an internet domain developer business.

As well as discussing her childhood, Del Rey also said that she only came into money at the age of 26 after launching her music career – living in a trailer park or boyfriend’s accommodation until that point. She added that she was living in a hostel on 17th Street in New York when she performed on Saturday Night Live in 2012.

She also posted various comments on Instagram, replying to people who stated that she was born into wealth by confirming that the association between Lake Placid and money is “a new phenomena”.

“We had absolutely no money… that’s a little story the news loved to assign to me,” she wrote in one comment. “I grew up in a mountain town in a little house, and we struggled as much as everybody else in the town of 900, there is no other truth than that… there are people who are well-known, who grew up rich – I’m not one of them.”

 

In other Del Rey news, earlier this month the ‘Video Games’ singer responded to an influencer who accused her of using witchcraft. The Christian influencer made the comments after a crowd was knocked over by a surge of energy at one of the singer’s gigs earlier this summer.

“B!tch I know the Bible verse for verse better than you do,” Del Rey wrote (via Stereogum). “PS you’re giving off super gremlin energy. Not in a good way.”

Elsewhere, Del Rey – who released her new album ‘Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd’ in March of this year – recently revealed that she donated “every dollar” from ticket sales of her tour back to the cities she’s performed in.

“It’s not about [the money] for me,” the singer said. “I know that sounds cheesy, but I tour because I love it… I don’t need to. I just love it, and we’re all about the places we’ve been to.”

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